A Heart Renewed
By: CrimsonCrome
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my own original characters and original settings/made-up ideas. Thank you.
A/N: Let my story truly begin. This is sort of before Sora began his fateful journey, except all the characters from all the games may show up!
Chapter OneIt was nearly dawn and the cool sand gave way to Sora's big yellow shoes. He was walking to Destiny Island High, the public school he had been attending ever since he had come of age. There weren't many students there, maybe a grand total of one hundred per grade– maybe. In any case, it was all he had ever known.
The Island he had lived on his entire life was a small one. It was one of three. They were all called Destiny Islands. The one he lived on was Fate's Cove. The other two were Foretelling Isle and Vision Shores.
He was heading toward Vision Shores, where his school was located. The island wasn't very big, but it held the entire town. When Sora came to the bridge that connected the two islands, he saw that the town looked dark in front of the rising sun. Not much seemed to move, but the powerful sunrays made Sora squint and he wasn't really able to see anything anyway.
The sound of his shoes making contact with the cobblestone bridge was the only sound Sora could hear. It was deathly quiet, an unusual circumstance even for his small town. The wind was dead and no noise penetrated the eerie silence, save the steady rhythm of his shoes on the stones.
Sora was relieved when he saw a familiar face come from the bakery shop right next to the bridge, someone who was quite able in providing sound.
"Good morning, Sora!" Selphie messed with her brown, curly ends of her hair absently. "Are you excited about starting sophomore year? Or more importantly, who are you taking to homecoming?"
"Uh –" Sora stared on in confusion at the cute girl, but she wasn't finished talking.
"Oh, I bet you're going to wait and see if there are any hott freshman, aren't you! So typical of you boys! Hey, could you help me carry my books for me?" Selphie extended her reading material and binder.
Glad to be rid of her questions, Sora gladly took hold of them and walked beside her, not really listening to her complain about her hair, her nails, and how Tidus was always calling her bossy. "You don't think I'm bossy, do you Sora?"
Sora had been zoning out, staring at the scribbles she had written on her trapper.
Selphie huffed. "Well, do you? Sora! SORA!"
"Huh? What?" He snapped back to reality, barely avoiding a street lamp.
"How are you ever going to get yourself a girl if you can't even listen to your friends that are girls?" Selphie stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Look Sora, you're cute, but you're spacey. Girls like a guy who can pay attention, so pay attention! Now, I asked if you thought I was bossy?"
Sora grabbed the books with one hand and held it to his leg. He then ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. Maybe sometimes."
Selphie opened her mouth in surprised opposition. "I can't believe you said that Sora! Never mind! No girl will ever like you!" She continued toward the school, walking a bit faster than normal. Sora followed uneasily.
They were halfway to the school now and Sora was already feeling completely confused by Selphie. He shook his head, deciding to ignore her ranting and find his best friends.
The town was waking to the sun's beckoning. Shop owners began putting out open signs. The town factory's pipes began to pour out unhealthy pollution. Several adults were already in the streets, carrying laundry loads, baskets, and groceries; most looked tired. Several smells began to waft into the morning air, mostly of fresh baking bread and fruit.
Selphie waved hello to a street merchant. Sora noticed her face had already taken on the appearance of a forgetful smile. She was short tempered sometimes, but her bursts of anger didn't last very long. He liked that about her, quick to forgive and always forgetting.
A finger tapped Sora on the shoulder and he whirled around to see Riku standing behind him. "Going to school?"
"Yeah, want to come with us?" Sora asked, stopping Selphie.
Riku put both his hands on his hips. "I suppose. Not that I want to show up as a junior who hangs out with a bunch of sophomores."
"Cool, interesting, and classy sophomores. Actually, that's only me, never mind!" Selphie smiled jokingly at Sora, who nudged her playfully.
Riku shrugged his shoulders. "Well, you've got a point Selphie, I could show up with you. But Sora I can't be seen with."
"Hey!" Sora laughed. "C'mon, we're going to be late."
Selphie, who had been blushing at Riku's comment about her, nodded and they went on.
They arrived at the school ten minutes early. Many of the students were already there, kicking around a hacky sack or talking in a group.
Sora was the first to spot Kairi, Tidus, and Wakka. They were all standing together, talking. Kairi, of course, was giggling.
Riku ran up to them and tapped Kairi on the shoulder. "Hey."
Kairi turned and smiled. "Oh hi, Riku! We were just talking about you! Tidus and Wakka were saying that you beat them and Selphie in a duel! That must have been really difficult!"
"Not really," Riku said, puffing out his chest.
Tidus shrugged. "He actually kicked our butts pretty good. Not gonna lie."
"Ya, he was all over us!" Wakka shook his head in amazement.
Sora came over to them. "Hey, I beat all of you guys too!"
Tidus guffawed. "Yeah but you were completely winded afterward! Riku beat us without even so much as breaking a sweat!"
Kairi giggled.
Sora burned with anger. "Yeah right!"
Selphie snickered, obviously enjoying his jealousy. "It's true."
The bell to the school rang. Students merged toward the front doors.
"Hey Kairi, what's your schedule?" Sora asked, already lost.
"Go to your homeroom first, Sora," Selphie said knowingly.
Sora was split up from all his friends as he pushed and shoved past people to get to his homeroom class. There were only a few students in there.
The teacher who ran Sora's homeroom class was sitting at his desk in the far corner. He had a deformed leg and walked with difficulty whenever he had to move somewhere else. Sora liked him a lot though, because he was a very wise man.
"Good morning, Sora," his teacher said.
"Hey, Mr. Oyu! Do you have our schedules?" Sora looked nervously over to a pile of stacked papers on the man's desk.
"Lost already, Sora? Yes, I have your schedules, and I made sure to highlight yours in different colors, so it'd be easy for you to figure out where you are supposed to go when," Mr. Oyu smiled fondly at Sora then waited like the rest for the bell to ring.
Sora listened as Mr. Oyu called the names for the schedules. Then one name sounded that Sora did not recognize.
"Patience Lyndenburg?" Mr. Oyu held out the paper to a girl Sora had never seen before. She had been sitting behind him, that's why he hadn't noticed her. She came up right behind Sora and turned to look at him before nervously grabbing the paper from Mr. Oyu's hand. She was tall, lanky, and very pale. Her hair was beautiful, hanging just above her waist, a gleaming black waterfall. Her eyes were an eerie shade of green, offset by several blue specks. But Sora's favorite feature was her delicate hands. He couldn't explain it, but they were beautiful.
Patience walked quickly back to her seat and nearly tripped over herself as she tried to sit down.
Sora's interest was sparked. This new girl was new territory, someone who didn't know him at all. His mind began racing with thoughts about "casually" bumping into her. Any new addition to Destiny Island High was a big deal. She would be the center of attention for a least a month, if not longer.
The bell rang and Sora jumped. He could have kicked himself for not looking at his schedule and trying to figure out ahead of time where he would be going. He looked and saw Patience slip out the door. He felt stupid for not getting the chance to talk to her.
After grabbing his books he entered the hallway and looked at the highlighted numbers. The first class he would go to would be band class. He had lots of friends in band class, but Riku wouldn't be in there. He felt a sort of uneasiness when he wasn't around him.
The band class was easy to find. He had been there last year, first period as well.
Riku passed him in the hall and barely glanced at him as Sora waved a hello.
Sora felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over it, but no one was there. Confused, he looked over his other shoulder and found a grinning Kairi.
"Gotcha!" She giggled and walked even with him in the hallway.
"Did you sign up for band this year?" Sora asked, concerned.
"Yeah. I'm playing the flute. Hey, did you see the new girl? She looks so scared!" Kairi's face was covered with concern and Sora couldn't help feel bad for Patience.
"Yeah, she was in my homeroom. What's the deal with her?" Sora asked.
"I don't know yet, but give me until lunch and I would probably be able to give you her address!" Kairi rolled her eyes.
Sora shrugged. "It's a big deal when someone new comes here. Speaking of which…" Sora pointed down the hallway.
The two stopped and stared at the oncoming crowd of black coats. All of the figures were tall and muscular. Sora noticed first a red headed guy with green eyes. They walked up to Sora and Kairi.
"What are you looking at, punk?" The red head asked.
Sora gulped a bit and then regained his composer. "You. Who are you guys?"
The red headed boy laughed. "You'll know in time. Soon everyone will know not to mess with Organization Thirteen."
"Organization Thirteen?" Kairi whispered with a strange sense of dread.
Another boy stepped up. He had brown hair. "Yeah. That's the name of our gang, sweetie." He winked at her and Kairi blushed in embarrassment.
Sora stepped in front of her.
"Ooh, tough guy!" The red head hissed.
"Let's go, Axel," another of them said. He was a blond. He looked older than most of them.
"Fine," the red head turned and stared at Sora. "Next time there won't be anybody there to protect your little girlfriend."
Sora raised both fists, but the principle came around the corner. "What's going on here boys?"
Kairi turned and looked at him. She was pale as a ghost. "Nothing, sir."
"Get moving. Won't want to be late on your first day. That gives a bad impression," the well-dressed principle stated warningly.
The one named Axel walked by him and looked the man up and down. "I'm not worried about bad impressions."
Sora watched the rest of the gang pass and go down the hall behind Axel. For a second, he could have sworn he saw a person dressed in white in between them, but he didn't get a chance to see whom they were hiding.
Kairi nudged him. "Let's go to class."
In band, Sora got the chance to talk to some of his friends. Most of them told him the gang had already beaten up a pretty tough football player who had given them lip. It was only a matter of time before they became the school bullies.
"So Sora, what did they say to you?" Roxas asked him. He was a good friend of Sora who coincidentally looked a lot like him, except his hair was blond.
"Well, they kept flirting with Kairi, that's for sure," Sora sighed. "They even called her my girlfriend."
"She should be your girlfriend. When are you going to ask her out?" Roxas gave him an annoyed look.
"I don't know that I want anything more than our friendship. I like it the way it is," Sora pulled his trumpet case from his band locker. Roxas followed him, dragging his tuba.
"C'mon. You should ask her to homecoming! That would be awesome," Roxas pumped a fist in the air and nearly dropped the big tuba.
"No. I'm not going to," Sora walked over to his chair and set down his trumpet case. "Besides, I'm sure Kairi doesn't like me that way."
Roxas blew through his tuba, which caused it to make a weird noise. "Yeah right!"
Sora checked his trumpet valves and then went over to the music stands. Roxas followed him, still dragging around his tuba.
"Just give it a shot. For me," Roxas pointed to himself.
Sora shook his head. "No."
"You know, maybe you're right. How could Kairi like a guy like you anyway?" Roxas asked.
"What do you mean?" Sora said, turning around. His eyes starred daggers at his blond friend.
Roxas threw up both hands and then caught his tuba before it hit the ground. "I'm just saying that you're probably right. Kairi wouldn't like you because you are such a COWARD."
Sora grabbed a music stand and gripped it like a vice. "I am not a coward."
"Are to. Won't even ask out a girl! What's so scary about a girl anyway?" Roxas crossed his arms in front of his chest challengingly.
Sora thought back to the morning with Selphie. "Everything."
Wakka walked up to them with drumsticks in hand. "Hey, what's happening, mon?"
"We were just discussing how much of a coward Sora is for not asking Kairi to homecoming," Roxas said.
Sora waved them off with his free hand. "Please. I would do it, I just don't want to ruin our relationship."
"C-H-I-C-K-E-N!" Roxas said while bouncing up and down.
"What are you a cheerleader?" Sora spat irritably.
Wakka laughed. "Mon, you gotta ask her. She looked hott last year in her homecoming dress. Think of how cool you'd look with her, ya?"
"Yeah, the mayor's daughter on Sora's arm!" Roxas burst out laughing. "Actually, never mind, she's way out of your league."
Sora frowned. He went over to his chair. Through the rest of the class he couldn't stop thinking about Kairi. He sat two rows behind her, which made it easier to stare at her. He wanted to talk to her about that stuff, but he truly liked the way they were now, just really close friends – really close friends…
Sora's next class was history. History was his favorite class. He liked learning about all the wars that happened in the past on Destiny Islands and the surrounding islands. His teacher was Mrs. Anthrop, or so it said on the schedule.
When he entered the class the first person he saw was Patience Lyndenburg. She was sitting at a desk in the back corner, fretfully tucking her hair behind one of her pale ears.
Without thinking, he took the seat right next to her. She stopped what she was doing, but did not look at him.
Sora grew impatient. He turned to her and lifted his hand in a sort of wave. "Hi, I'm Sora."
She turned toward him and made eye contact – for about a second. "Hi."
"What's your name?" Sora asked her tolerantly.
"Oh, right. Uh – my name is Patience," she said, laughing a bit and then clearing her throat in a way that suggested she was uncomfortable.
"Nice to meet you. Where are you from?" Sora asked, again trying to attempt conversation. He wanted to make her more relaxed, she was extremely tense.
"Um – well, from the Dusk Islands," she messed with her hair again and continued. "There's a war going on."
"Oh, so you came here to escape it?" Sora asked soothingly.
She nodded. "Yeah – sorry, I should have told you that in the beginning."
Sora laughed. "You're really nervous aren't you?"
Patience smiled and let forth such a heavy sigh; Sora wondered how long she had been keeping it in. "Yeah, how'd you guess?"
The class started and Sora would glance over at Patience every once in a while to see what she was doing. Usually she would be staring like a frightened puppy at the teacher as she talked.
When the class ended, Sora said goodbye to Patience and went on to gym.
Riku was in this class. Tidus was too.
The first day of gym class, the teacher had them play soccer. Riku, Sora, and Tidus all managed to get on the same team as the instructor counted them off for three separate teams. As they played, their team annihilated the competition. Riku, Tidus, and Sora were what everyone called "the dynamic trio". By the end of the class, their team had beaten the other two teams twice by a thirty or more score difference.
Sora's fourth period was biology. None of his friends were in there, but Axel was, and he was sitting by a girl in an all white dress. He tried to avoid making eye contact with the read headed bully.
Fifth period was split into four sections. For Sora, he got one section of free time first, then a thirty-minute lunch break, and then the actual class period, which took up two sections, or about an hour. However, Selphie took up all his free time talking about nonsense.
When the time came to go downstairs, Sora almost cried with relief. Selphie walked down with him to the lunchroom.
"I wonder who's all in second lunch," Selphie observed the boys lining up for food. "Oh look! There's Tidus! Kairi and Riku are in our lunch too! That's awesome!"
Sora watched Selphie run over to Tidus and drag him to the back of the line where he was.
"Come stand with us, Tidus!" Selphie said sweetly, while clenching his arm tight so he could not escape.
"Do I have a choice?" He sighed and acknowledged Sora with a nod. "That was some wicked soccer we played today. We kicked butt!"
"Yeah, I know. Maybe we should try out for next year's team," Sora suggested.
"Hah! Yeah right. Coach Phillips would squash us like we were maggots," he made a face that looked like he just ate something sour. "And besides, that Axel dude is in to the whole soccer thing."
"I bet he's a real hot head out there on the field," Selphie whispered.
"Yeah," Sora looked down the hallway and saw the group Axel led coming their way.
"Great," Tidus turned away from them.
"Well if it isn't our little hero from earlier. Where's your girlfriend, tough guy," Axel taunted.
Selphie whirled on him. "What girlfriend? He has a girlfriend?"
Axel was taken by surprise for an instant but recovered instantly. "Yeah, that sexy little red head he was with earlier."
Selphie turned to Sora.
Sora flushed deep red. "No, Selphie, I didn't ask her out. Their just stupid."
"What did you say?" Axel said, coming up and getting in his face.
Sora didn't back down. Tidus stepped to his side.
"I said," Sora growled. "You're just stupid."
The brunette who had spoken earlier to Sora came up beside Axel. "Little sophomores thinking you can force us juniors to do what you want?" He pushed Tidus with his fingertips. "I'm thinking you need a reality check."
"Hey! Don't touch him!" Selphie hissed, shoving the boy away from Tidus.
Axel cracked up. "Demyx, dude, are you going to let a girl push you around?"
The boy stood and grabbed Selphie's arms. She squeaked with terror. "You're cute, but not that cute. Don't mess with me or I'll mess up that pretty face of yours."
Tidus grabbed Demyx and pinned him up against the opposite wall. "Don't you ever touch her!"
Axel came over and pulled Tidus off of Demyx. Sora came flying in, punching Axel square in the jaw. Then all chaos broke loose.
The rest of the gang joined Demyx and Axel, while Sora and Tidus were left to defend themselves. Selphie tried desperately to pull a guy off of Tidus, but they were completely outnumbered.
Then Riku joined them and took on three guys at once, knocking them all off their feet, but sheer numbers managed to get them all down for the count until teachers came running to their rescue.
Busted up and bloody, Riku, Sora, and Tidus were shipped off to the office along with Axel's gang. Selphie came along too, she managed to get a small cut below her eye from where on of the zippers from the long black coats scratched her face.
In the office, they had to report in. Sora watched as Axel's gang came in and gave their names. He was also surprised to see a girl about his age come in. She was the one that had been sitting next to Axel in biology. Was she with this gang?
Some of the organization members had their hoods up, but the principle personally took them off for them. Sora watched and was amazed, yet again, to see a girl appear from under one of the hoods.
He listened to them as they said their names:
Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Saïx, Axel, Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, and Larxene (the girl). The girl dressed in white was named Naminé.
Sora looked at Naminé's face. She looked tired, even weary. He wondered why such a pretty girl like her would hang out with this rough looking gang. Then something snapped in him.
There were only twelve of the ones dressed in black.
Who was the thirteenth one?
XxX End Of Chapter One XxX